One of the "Big Six" energy firms today warned prices would soon
rise again. So should you fix your bills?

Energy giant SSE today warned of higher bills ahead as it posted a 27.5pc rise in profits to £410m for energy supply business.

The company, which raised electricity and gas prices by an average 9pc in October, said: "Unless there is a sustained reduction in prices in wholesale gas and electricity markets, it is highly likely that these additional costs will eventually have to be reflected in higher prices for household customers."

But it said it intended “to resist this trend of higher costs for as long as possible to shield customers from the unwelcome impact of higher prices”.

SSE supplies 9.6m households with energy. Use of gas, it said, was up 21pc due to the cold weather and electricity demand was 5pc higher with cooler average temperatures every month compared with the year before.

But Ann Robinson, director of consumer policy at uSwitch, said the profits were a “smoking gun, making it difficult for any supplier to justify last winter’s price hikes and the pressure they have placed on consumers”. She said that “a price cut or a price freeze is the only suitable peace offering”.

Caroline Flint MP, Labour's Shadow Energy and Climate Change Secretary, said: "It's another day and another energy company announces record profits. Like all the other big energy firms when SSE imposed inflation-busting price hikes last winter, they claimed they had no choice. But these figures show they have increased their profits on the back of spiralling bills for hard-pressed people.

"The time has come for a complete overhaul of Britain's energy market. For too long the energy companies have been able to do whatever they want, while households have been left struggling to pay their bills. The energy market must be made to work in the interests of ordinary consumers not the energy giants."

Overall, the group posted a 5.6pc increase in profits to £1.4bn.

The company was fined £10.5m in April for mis-selling to thousands of customers, also rejected calls to forgo any executive bonuses, instead cutting them by 40pc. However it said Ian Marchant, outgoing chief executive, had decided to waive the remainder of his bonus.

Should you fix?

A fixed tariff protects you from any further price rises by locking your rates for a set period of time. The advantage of taking a fixed tariff is you will know roughly how much your bill will be, regardless of any price rises imposed on those on standard tariffs or on special discount variable deals.

Because of this, fixed tariffs are typically more expensive than discounted tariffs. The current cheapest fixed tariff is npower’s Online Price Fix June 2014, according to Energyhelpline. A dual fuel customer choosing this tariff could expect to pay £1,184 annually on average, a £236 saving over a typical bill.

You can fix for a little longer, until February 2015 with EDF's Blue +Price Promise but a slightly higher cost of an average £1,192. Other cheap tariffs are offered by Scottish Power and first:utility.

The cheapest discounted variable deal is Sainsbury's Energy's Online July 2014. It effectively offers a 4pc discount on the firm's Clear & Simple tariff until July 31 2014. The average cost is £1,157 or a saving of £263.

This is also a saving of £27 over the best fixed deal. Enter your postcode below to compare the tariffs available in your area.